1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an optical fiber and optical assembly workstation, and more particularly, to an optical fiber/optical assembly workstation that includes a fixed principal work surface and a movable work surface arranged above the principal work surface, where this elevated movable work surface can be configured to carry an optical work piece, or where the elevated movable work surface is itself the optical work piece.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flaws in an optical fiber that are introduced during fabrication, handling, placement, or even exposure to the atmosphere, all represent points of potential fiber failure. A fiber once flawed may be further degraded by stress corrosion, causing the defect to expand or grow. Moisture, mechanical stress, and chemical attack can all accelerate stress corrosion in an optical fiber.
Accordingly, in the design and manufacture of optical fibers and their associated network connections, amplifiers, and multiplexers, a major objective is the elimination of as many stresses as possible. For example, stress phenomena such as microbending and macrobending can cause significant attenuation to light transmission through the fiber. Microbending may be defined as small abrupt changes in the optical fiber core mechanical structure, or sharp irregularities at the interface between the fiber cladding and the core materials. Although extremely small, such irregularities introduced in the manufacturing process produce significant additional light attenuation. Macrobending occurs when a fiber bend radius decreases to the point that light rays within the core start to escape into the cladding material. The radius at which macrobending occurs depends upon the fiber size, type, and the operating light wavelength.
Generally, the manufacture of optical fibers and associated connectors, amplifiers and the like is carried out by an operator at an optical fiber or optical assembly workstation (hereinafter "optical assembly workstation"). The conventional optical assembly workstation consists of a flat work surface, on which optical work pieces are arranged. Optical work pieces may comprise any number of apparatus that are used in manufacturing optical devices, including optical fiber cassettes, manufacturing or optical assembly trays, and optical test equipment.
However, due to the many processing steps and/or testing steps that must be performed to ensure high quality optical fibers, a number of pieces of test equipment and assembly equipment, in addition to the fiber cassettes, must be accommodated at the workstation. Therefore, the work surface becomes crowded, especially the portion of the work surface within an arm's length reach of the operator. As a result, there is a high probability that the operator will inadvertently lean on the optical fibers while reaching for a piece of equipment, or inadvertently place a piece of assembly or test equipment on the optical fibers, perhaps causing microbends as described earlier, or even breakage. Also, the repeated maneuvering of the fiber cassettes in the confined and crowded area between the assembly trays and test equipment on the workstation could also inadvertently damage the optical fibers by over-bending or over-stressing the optical fibers.
The crowded workstation area and lack of flexibility in placement of the assembly and test equipment leads to decreased production capacity due to optical fiber breakage, or the necessity for rework of lower quality optical fibers and optical fibers assemblies.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an optical assembly workstation that can provide flexibility in equipment placement, free the work area of clutter, and reduce the probability of inadvertent damage to the optical fibers and optical assemblies being manufactured at the workstation.